ALCS: Yanks' offensive woes were a team effort in sweep by Tigers

DETROIT — Alex Rodriguez failed to hit for the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.

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By The Associated Press

recordonline.com

By The Associated Press

Posted Oct. 19, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By The Associated Press
Posted Oct. 19, 2012 at 2:00 AM

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DETROIT — Alex Rodriguez failed to hit for the Yankees in the AL Championship Series.

He wasn't alone.

None of his teammates produced at the plate, and now the Yankees' season is over.

The slugging Yankees, who set a team record for homers and finished second in baseball in runs scored, were swept by the Detroit Tigers in the ALCS, losing 8-1 in Game 4 on Thursday.

“You never expect this,” Rodriguez said. “It's a terrible way for the season to end.”

A-Rod got all the attention, being benched three times in this postseason, but the Yankees did not get it done up and down the lineup – Raul Ibanez being an exception – during a series in which it failed to lead once.

“The one thing I don't want to focus on is Alex, in a sense, because it wasn't just him that didn't hit,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “You know, if the other guys hit, one guy's struggles aren't going to show as much.”

Rodriguez batted .120 (3-for-25) with no RBI in the postseason, including 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against right-handers and 1-for-9 against the Tigers.

He has $114 million and five years remaining on his contract – and a no-trade clause – and said he expects to be back with the Yankees next season.

“I love New York City and I love everything about being a Yankee,” he said. “The highs are very high and the lows are extremely low. And there's no question the last few weeks was extremely difficult, not only on me but all my teammates.”

Asked whether he would accept a platoon role or prefer to go to another team, the three-time AL MVP responded: “I've never thought about going to another team. My focus is to stay here. Let's make that very, very clear. Number two, I don't expect to be mediocre. I expect to do what I've done for a long time.”

Several of Rodriguez's teammates were worse with a bat in their hands in the postseason.

Robinson Cano was at .075 (3-for-40) with no home runs, Curtis Granderson .100 (3-for-30) with 16 strikeouts, Nick Swisher .167 (5-for-30) with two RBI and Russell Martin .161 (5-for-31) with one RBI. Eric Chavez was 0-for-16 with eight strikeouts.

Girardi seemed most puzzled by Cano's struggles, which included getting only one hit in 18 at-bats against the Tigers and enduring a postseason-record 0-for-29 skid that began in the division series.

“That one is kind of baffling for me because we have seen the type of hitter that Robby Cano is,” Girardi said.

The only records the Yankees set this October were for futility. They batted .188 (60-for-320), a low for seven games in the postseason, according to STATS LLC., and scored just 22 runs – six against Detroit.

And, the Yankees joined the 1984 Kansas City Royals as the only teams to play a league championship series without leading a game.